The present invention relates generally to a comminuting apparatus, and more particularly, to a movable apparatus for comminuting debris on a golf course or other ground surface.
Golf courses, playing fields, and other turf surfaces are frequently subjected to heavy traffic and thus require frequent maintenance and care to keep them in good condition. One tool useful for keeping a turf surface healthy is an aerator, a device that punches holes in the turf surface and pulls out plugs of grass and soil. Plugging a turf surface in this manner allows air and moisture to penetrate the ground more quickly than an unaerated surface and also allows fertilizer to get down to the roots of the grass.
The plugs removed by an aerator are typically about five-eighths inch in diameter and one to four inches long, and these plugs are formed about four inches apart on a ground surface. Picking up and disposing of the plugs is expensive and removes and wastes valuable nutrients. However, until the plugs break down under the influence of sun, rain, and wind, they can interfere with the use of the turf. This problem is particularly pronounced when a golf course green is aerated, since plugs lying on the green would make putting nearly impossible. Attempts have therefore been made, with mixed success, to chop up the plugs and return the materials to the turf surface.
While flail type machines have been used for this purpose, they have not been very effective for a breaking up and redistributing of the plugs and thatch, particularly under wet or damp conditions. It is also has been proposed to use drag mats or blowers, both of which have also proved to be generally ineffective in properly removing the debris. Further, such procedures, at best, merely accumulate the debris to the side of the green or in the rough where the material is frequently left to slowly decompose, or must be manually removed. It would therefore be desirable to provide a apparatus for effectively comminuting plugs and grass and returning the comminuted material to a turf surface in a manner that does not interfere with the use of the turf surface.
The present invention is directed to a comminuting mechanism having a mobile support structure movable along a path of travel on a ground surface. A rotatable drive shaft is mounted within a housing and extends transversely of the path of travel and is supported by the mobile support structure. The comminuting mechanism further includes a mechanism such as a gasoline engine for rotating the rotatable shaft. The comminuting mechanism also includes a plurality of pulverizing blades, each having a hub with a central opening for mounting on the rotatable shaft within the housing. Each pulverizing blade includes a plurality of arms extending radially from the hub. A first set of straight arms radiates in the plane of the hub. Between each pair of straight arms lays a blade with an end or tip portion angled toward a first side or a second side of the plane of the hub. The direction of the angled arms alternates around the blade. The pulverizing blades are preferably mounted on the shaft so that the arms of adjacent blades are slightly offset rotationally from one another. Most if not all the straight arms include planar fan members mounted perpendicularly to the plane of the blade for creating an airflow into the housing when the shaft rotates.
The mechanism further includes a debris receiving opening in the bottom of the housing extending in the direction of the rotatable shaft for receiving ground debris along the path of travel substantially at ground level. The rotation of the blades and their fan members creates an airflow into the housing and helps draw grass plugs and other debris into the housing where they are pulverized by the action of the rotating blades and/or by collisions with the housing. After a partial circuit or one or more circuits around the rotating shaft, the pulverized debris is discharged through an outlet opening in the direction opposite to the direction of travel of the vehicle.